Deception: The Beginning of The Dark Descent
Introduction Somewhere far, hidden in the deepest darkest shadows, lies a very tall building covered in fog and rocks as it stood tall and wide as if it was watching something. Suddenly an airship passes through the fog as the building shined a light on it and opened allowing the ship to enter. With most of the crew exiting, a tall buff man with red hair walks out as another person wearing a hooded cloak and masked approched him, "Collector" The man said as he handed The Collector one single brief case. "I take it the mission went well?" He asked giving the case to another of his agents who took it away. "Yes, though I admit the defenses were better than expected, so what's next for me?" He asked cracking his fists and neck with ease. "There is something important I need done: It seems that the Chain Gang Trio has somehow managed to find my training facility in Lexio Town. I need you to head over there and make sure that the facility is not discovered" This order gave the man an irritated look on his face. "Why not have me go after them now?" "Gran Soren isn't in our reach, they're own government does not trust outsiders and if you went in, it would only raise suspision by all. Besides, I need them alive, they could be useful test subjects, now go Feng and do not fail me" The Collector said as he walked away. Feng smiled as he reboarded the airship and went off to his next mission. Inside Phoenix Feather Guild "Lately, Gran Soren has had a series of break-in's done by Dark Mages, almost ten people were sent to the hospital and it seems like it won't stop. The mayor has been offereing a large reward to any guild who comes, which is why I'm here today" The messenger said as he handed the paper to the Guild Master. The Guild Master smiled sheepishly as he read over the request, shooing out the messenger in the process. "Wait a sec....how did they know we were here? We aren't even a recognized guild yet. Hm, oh well. In any case, look at the amount of money we could get from this job." Whistling, he stroked his hair back as he walked, almost dancing, into the main hall where everyone else was relaxing. "So. Listen here folks. I just received a request from a mission from these people in some town called Gran Soren. Its a simple request, but the pay looks huge and can certainly help to finance us and even get us a bet place to live. In saying that I would like for Kujina and Jubei, our two S-Rank Mages to take care of this quickly and effortlessly." "No." Kujina shot out quickly Jubei followed quickly with "Denied." As he waved Rozeluxe away and began playing with Sophie. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'DENIED'? It wasn't in the form of a question you two." Rozeluxe retorted sharply as he stamped his foot on the ground. "Eh...I really don't feel like taking care of something that stupid. If I were to go, I might just create more havoc just so that there would actually be a mission for me to handle." Kujina laughed as she contiuned playing cards with Sango at a nearby table. Sighing in disbelief, Rozeluxe looked around. "Well...hm....I would send Rena but she is in town running some errands. Well, it looks like I have no choice...I just have to send him. Jubei! Have you seen..." CRASH!!! "Don't you EVER try to peek on me again! You sneak in here again and I'll be sure to pluck both of your eyes out!" It couldn't be seen who was yelling, but it was obvious that it was a woman's voice. A body fell down onto a nearby table next to Sophie, who jumped onto Jubei's head. "Found him!" The two muttered in unison. Shaking off the debris, a teen with long white hair stood up with a smile. "Bah! You know you want me to see. I don't see why you're fighting it so hard. Just think...if you let me see you in your panties just once, I can scratch you off the list and move on to Kujina and Rena. Besides, Sophie already let me see her's and she had no problem with it." "Sure. No problem with it. If that's what you want to call me putting you in a week coma." Sophie sighed. Disregarding the theatrics, Rozeluxe smiled "Akatsuki. You're going on a mission today with Sakura in order to quell a series of break-ins located in Gran Soren." "WHAT!?" A nearby door swung open with a girl standing in just her underwear with her jaw hanging open. "With HIM?!?" Jumping up in joy, Akatsuki pulled out a notepad and pen and crossed out Sakura's name on his long list. "Hm...lace with a little flower. Very nice, wouldn't expect that at all." A scream echoed throught the guild hall as Sakura slammed the door realizing her mistake too late. Almost an Hour Later.... Akatsuki and Sakura were standing together at the gates to the train after receiving a debreifing from Rozeluxe about their mission and Sakura thought back to what their guild master had told them before they departed "Now, go on ahead. I'll send Rena along after she gets back. Hopefully it won't take that long. Just take the train and you should be there in no time at all. Remember, if you don't complete the mission or get paid, then don't come back at all....seriously. I want the money. Your safety is fine...but remember....money." "I swear that bastard has an ice box where his heart should be." Sakura muttered as she looked over at her "partner" for this mission. Akatsuki grabbed at his key pouch as he made his way through the front gate. "Time to start our first big step into the big time! Oh yea!!! Let's do this!" Gran Soren Plaza The city is in full drive as much of the streets are filled with every day people, vendors, and mages all moving around to take in the city and see what it has to offer. However, the happiness is short lived when the sounds of screams is heard as a man in nothing but dark clothes was running through people, escaping three others that were hot on his tail. He cut through an alleyway, turning five different corners until he reached a spot with walls and windows surrounding him. He slowed his breathing before he looked around and exhaling a breath of relief. "Thank god I lost those twerps" "Who lost who Mickey?" The man yelled as three people stood before him, one guy with wild spiky prickly hair that looked frozen, one girl with long red hair , and another guy with tall spiky hair that was multi-colored. "Now Mickey, is running really the best way to say hi to old friends?" The white haired guy said sitting on top of a trash can nearby. "Screw you Griger, and you guys as well Ruby and Dominic, every time I somehow end up in a situation with you I get the short end of the stick" Mickey said trying to make another run for it, but was thrown over to Geiger's feet by Dominic. "Come on Micky, for old times sake, we just need some info on something we found recently, and you have the connections for it" Dominic said smiling as Mickey slowly stood up and found himself surrounded by the trio. "What do you need to know?" Ruby smiled as she handed Mickey the file, "We got word on something that has to do with illegal use of prisoner's, even if they harmed others no one deserves that fate. What do you know about it?" She asked but stopped when Mickey suddenly turned white as if he saw a ghost. "You have no idea what you have uncovered, you have brought upon you doomsday" Mickey said in a monotone voice before he chomped on one of his teeth, causing poison to go into his body and killing him on the spot. "What the hell happened?!" Dominic went to check on him but it was too late as his body began to melt making Ruby turn away and Dominic vomit on the spot. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" Ruby said with a shaky voice as Geiger went to hold her. "I don't know, but we're gonna find out and make them pay for doing this" He said in a determined voice as he kept holding Ruby. Dominic wiped his mouth his sleeve when he noticed something sticking out of Mickey's coat, "Son of a gun had one last thing for us" After making sure Mickey had a proper burial, the trio headed back to their hotel with new intel in their hands to see what they could dig up on everything that was connected to the file. Back at the Train Station... "Whew!! That was the longest ride...ever!" Akatsuki sighed as he stepped out of the train before Sakura and stretched out aching to see the sun. "HUH!? Where'd the sun go? Why the hell is the bloody moon out for now?" "You slept the entire 6 hour trip here you know. Kinda made it unconfortable with you sleep talking about how you're a terrorist and going to blow up the train. Almost got us thrown off, but I just told them you were born with some mental defects." Sakura sighed as she tossed Akatsuki his bag, nearly knocking him over. Laughing as he grabbed his stuff. "My bad. I couldn't help it. I just got done watching 'How to blow objects up like a terrorist would on the moon'. Its a pretty addicting show.....er...sorry. In any case, we should probably find somewhere to crash for the night. Don't you think?" "Already planned ahead and reached a local hotel. Trust me, I'm not as completely useless as you are." Sakura mused. "Now just follow me and we'll be there in no ti--Akatsuki?" Turning around in circles, her companion was nowhere to be seen until spotting him at a nearby window. "What the hell are you doing now?" "Gold....Key...Pisces....here....must have it." "Really? Now? Can't we just come back for it later?" Sakura asked it in the form of a question but was already pulling Akatasuki by the hair as they made their way to the front of the Hotel she planned on staying at. On the seventh floor of the hotel, the trio were looking through the documents, trying to connect small pieces of information from the file and the documents found on Mickey. After an hour, Ruby got sick of reading and walked towards the door. "And where do you think you're going?" Dominic asked glaring at her. "We've combed through every single word Dom, I doubt Mickey was the kind of guy who did secretive stuff, he was a small time rat. So, I'm going to get something to eat, thank you very much" Ruby said huffing as she walked out the door and slammed it. "Why is it that I'm the only one who gets scolded in this family??" "Because you're the only one who still acts like a brat" Geiger said laughing as Dom stuck his tongue out before looking back at the files. Ruby had just reached the first floor and exited the elevator as she started to walk up to the receptionist's desk to ask where she could find some grub. Walking into the front of the hotel and entering the lobby, Sakura sighed as she was still dragging along Akatsuki who was still trying to go back to the store he saw earlier. "Er...we made it..a few wrong turns but still..." Her words trailed off into a bit of muttering as she looked around noticing then strange woman at the counter. Still dragging Akatsuki, Sakura approached the counter. "Excuse me, mind getting out the way. Your food can wait. I'm trying to get a place to stay for the night." "Don't be rude Sakura, let's play nice with the pretty ladies." Seemingly a different person, Akatsuki shot forward toward the stranger and the female receptionist. "So, how would you two like to have a magical evening with me out on the town? Dont even bother asking, because I know the answer is already yes. Am I right?" Ruby chuckled a bit as she turned back to the receptionist, "Thank you for the information, sorry to have troubled you" She said with a smile as she moved aside from her spot to allow the other customers to talk with her. As Ruby headed out the door, the receptionist casually scratched her ear, making two other people there nod as they walked up and walked outside, shadowing Ruby. "Totally rejected." Sakura laughed under her breath as both females completely disregarded Akatsuki's advances. "In any case, are there any rooms available? There's two of us...well three...but still." Looking back at the girl leaving the room, Akatsuki noted the two individuals tailing her. Slightly nudging Sakura, he made a discreet movement with his elbow as to not alert the receptionist to his observation. "Uh...I think I'm gonna try to get her number. Be right back Sakura." Akatsuki then walked behind the two individuals, tailing them from a fair distance so that he would not alert them to his presence. Ruby knew that people were following her, but decided to play along to see if they were just another hands for hire or some specalized people. Her walks to her to three different food stores, often cutting through several different roads at a time, where she ordered for herself and her brothers. After about a half hour, it was clear to Ruby that the guys following her were pros and that someone wanted her dead. Deciding to stage an ambush, Ruby acted like she was lost and eventually found herself in a cornered alley way with the two hunters. "Sorry to do this to you Ms. Strum" "It's only buisness" "Whoa there fellas...what are we doing by stalking a young lady like this?" Jumping down off a nearby trashcan, Akatsuki did and flip and landed in front of the two hunters. "Just stand back miss, I'll take care of these clowns in a flash." Waiting for the two goons to make a move, he began fingering his key holder before muttering to himself, "I do hope you're ready Virgo." "I see, well in that case...." Ruby placed the as she smiled, but quickly shot out Water Magic out of both of her hands, causing them to become water whips as they were then swung at both of the asssassins, knocking them both into a wall. "Now, unless you wanna find out what it's like to drown at nearly 600 feet in ocean depth, who are you working for?" "It doesn't matter what we say, we're dead men as it is, and now that he decided to interfere, everyone you know and love will be dead" One of the said before the both of them chomped on a tooth capsule, causing them to seize up and fall dead within seconds. "Damn it" Ruby said as she let them go and went to their bodies to find anything relevent to their original mission, which turned up some paper work and information on them. "Listen, thank you for trying to help me, but I didn't really need any" She said turning over to Akatuski. Sighing in relief of avoiding conflict, Akatsuki smiled. "Of course not darling. But a gentleman such as myself, couldn't just leave you to deal with them all on your own. You didn't need it, but I was here to help just in case they tried to get rough with you. Now then, shall we head back to the hotel? You can stay with me for the remainder of the night if you're scared." Ruby chuckled a bit before she went over to grab her food, "Thanks for the offer and all, but I already have a boyfriend now, and believe me, he stands way more than you do" Ruby said winking before she grabbed her food. "In any event, we're in this together whether we like it or not and I think my brothers would wanna talk with you and that girl you were with" "...Shot down again." Akatsuki sighed as he stuck his hands in his pockets and ran to catch up with Ruby. "What's your name by the way? I mean if we're going to be working together, I should know at least that much I'm sure." "Call me Ruby, Ruby Strum, and how bout you hot shot?" She said winking while she adjusted the bags to make sure the food hadn't fallen out. "Me, I'm Akatsuki." He said as he and his new friend walked through the door of the hotel to an angry face. "And that steaming mad girl over there is my guild mate, Sakura Yakumo." Stomping over to the two coming in, Sakura started yelling. "And WHERE have you been? I can have you dying on me because you want to go skirt chasing after some bimbo you lay your eyes on. Besides..." Sakura paused as she gave Ruby a once over. "She's not even remotely attractive. You could do much better." "Nice to meet you too, believe me when I say I'm not interested in your teammate, but I need you to come with me as well, but before that happens..." Ruby glared at the receptionist who knew she was discovered and ran out the door in a flash. "That bitch is gonna get it if I ever see her again, come on, we need to meet up with my brothers" Ruby said as she headed towards the elevator. Clenching his fist in annoyance as Ruby pretty much just spat on his feelings, Akatsuki sighed for third time in the past hour alone as he followed behind her. Turning back to look as he got on the elevator, he waved Sakura over. "You coming?" "Yea. I'll be right there. Just hold your horses already, geez." Almost robotically, Sakura made her way over and boarded along with the others. Pressing one of the buttons, the elevator made it's way to the 7th level of the hotel as it stopped and opened, allowing the trio to walk out and stop right at the first door. She knocked with one hand, waiting for a few seconds before it opened, revealing a tall muscular man with white spiky hair that looked frozen in place. "Finally.... Who are these people?" He asked grabbing the food and handing it over to a young man who grinned before running to the kitchen. "They're people who got caught in the same situation as us Geiger, Akatsuki tried to help me out and now he and his teammate are in the same boat. We can trust them" She said sincerly as the man looked at both of them before sighing as he moved aside. "Come on in, it's gonna get cold soon" The trio walked in as the two next to Ruby noticed how simple the room was, despite it being a very expensive-looking hotel. Walking in after letting Sakura go first, Akatsuki looked around at the three mages. "So.....are any of you gonna tell us what exactly is going on? Or are you going to just stuff your faces? I mean me and Saku---Sakura?" Before he could he finish, he looked over as she pulled out a large ham and began pulling at it with her teeth as though she were a dinosaur. "...Where in the world did you even pull that from?...On second thought I don't even want to know, better off this way." Sitting in a nearby chair, he waited for the situation to be explained to him "Before that, allow me to introduce ourselves, my name is Geiger Strum, you already met my sister Ruby Strum, and our little brother Dominic Strum. The three of us come from the region of Egalia with one task: Making sure illegal actions everywhere are caught and ended" Geiger said as he grabbed some of his food to eat. "Lately however, we've been hearing strange rumors about deep backalley days, very high illegal actions going on not just in Egalia, but in multiple regions. We recently encountered one of these deals and we decided to go on it, but of course, you could see how that went" Ruby said handing Akatsuki some food while she ate. "Now it looks like you guys are gonna be targeted as well by these people, and with what we learned, they're reach is beyond even our understanding" Dominic said with his mouth full before Ruby smacked the back of his head to make him swallow. Stretching as he prepared to eat, Akatsuki tried to replay all of the information in his head before laughing out loud. "So, there's this evil group trying to perform illegal deals, you guys are like the police that try to stop them, and somehow me and Sakura got caught in all of this craziness? And for what? Simply helping...actually scratch that I didn't really help at all. Ruby handled the situation all by herself, I just showed up to see the chaos unfold." "In other words, once again you were completely useless right?" Sakura snickered as she finished scarfing down her meat. "Its ok Akatsuki, just think...you have to be bound to do something great eventually." "We're not exactly police, no one else knows about these crookied deals, we managed to find them and make sure we stop them no matter what" Geiger replied before finishing his food. "Though in retrospect, I didn't see any reason why you should be following my sister in the first place" The air became heavy as he glared at Akatasuki with an intimidating look. Feeling a cold chill go down his spine, akatsuki began shuffling his way towards the door for a quick escape "Er.....what had happened was that I er....Sakura want to help me out here?" Smiling devilishly, Sakura nodded in agreement. "Sure! Akatsuki was simply stalking your sister because he wanted to corner her in a dark alley and have his way were her while no one was around. Right?" "I'm....gonna...kill...you Sakura." Akatsuki's jaw dropped as he turned to see three angry glares looking back at him. "Tch. That's not at all what I intended. Well, I wanted to charm Ruby of course, but not anything more than that. Well....a kiss couldn't hurt...but I swear, nothing more than that at least." Geiger dropped the aura as he cracked his neck and leaned back on the chair to relax, while Ruby chuckled. "Well, no offense to you Akatsuki, but I'm not the kind of girl who would give you a kiss or anything" She said with a laugh as she went to the kitchen to grab some drinks for everyone. "Don't feel too bad, she's not exactly the friendliest type with players, especially those who try to make the moves on her when she already has someone" Dominic said grinning a goofy smile at them. Shrugging uncaringly, Akatsuki nodded. "Eh....I didn't really care much for her anyway. Now that I get closer look, She's far too old and wrinkled, much like an old witch. Fufufufu." He snickered as he took back to his seat. "So......anyway. If we're done with the nonsense, back to the business at hand. These people chasing us now, do we know who they work for or what they are really even after?" Sakura questioned all three siblings as she finished her meal. "We have no idea at this point, so far we've only heard small rumors and very few turned out to even be real, whoever is pulling the strings is quite capable of making sure no one else ever knows about them. Luckily, thanks to the file we got on them, at least we know where to start our search, Lexio Town" Geiger said as he passed on the file to both of the people in front of him. "This is crazy, we've already said different encounters with them, especially the time when Ruby and her crush first mee... ACK!!!" Dominic winced in pain as Ruby had slapped the back side of his head with her hand in water form. "The point being" Ruby began turning her hand back into it's solid shape, "This area seems to be a favorite spot for them, and if they're used to a certain routine, then that's we're were gonna find them" She said grabbing some water to drink. "Well then what are we waiting for? Let's get the jump on them and track them down instead!!" Akatsuki procalimed as he jumped up from his seat and made his way toward the door. "We're taking up so much time just sitting here and talking when we could be out getting things done." Smiling to herself, Sakura grabbed her sword. "For once, I'm with him. Let's get things done raher than being all talk." Wood appeared blocking their as Geiger walked behind them, "And where do you expect to find them? In some shady bar down town? We don't rush in half-cocked, especially with too many unknowns. If you guys are gonna help, you need to follow my lead and play it safe, or else we will all die" Geiger said looking at the two of them, "Hm?" Looking at him dumbfounded, Sakura tilted her head. "Didn't you just say we had to go this Lexio Town? Can't we just find some transportation to take us there?" "Right now, it's too risky to be seen at this hour" Geiger said looking out the window to find that night has already covered the area. "These guys love the darkness, it's too risky not knowing, for now the best action we can do is rest up and move in the morning when people are around" Geiger said putting the barrier down as he walked back over to the files. "He's just really worried, this is one job he never expected to have so many unknowns, and with you guys involved that makes him even more nervous" Ruby said smiling as she decided to hit the shower. "The best thing you guy's can do is just get some rest and mentally prepare yourself, we're barely at the starting point and something tells me we're gonna be in it for the long haul" Dominic said as he unlocked the door and opened it for the duo befor going into the kitchen to start washing the dishes. Nodding in agreement, Akatsuki and Sakura made their way toward their own room. "So...are we going to be sleepi--OW" Before he could even finished, Sakura punched Akatsuki in the side of the head, sending him into the nearby wall. "Don't even think about it. I'll cut your manhood in two if you even look at my bed the wrong way." Sakura snapped as she entered their room and closed the door behind her. Shaking off the pain, Akatsuki smiled. "Looks like some things will never change..." Next chapter: Intervention: Bounty List Category:Phantombeast Category:RazeOfLight Category:Storyline